An Unexpected Feeling
by MangaAnimeLover
Summary: On a mission in her Chuunin days, Sakura feels something unexpected for her sensei. Time erases this sparkle, but destiny wants otherwise. As Sakura gets several missions with Kakashi, these long-forgotten feelings start blooming again. Kakashi X Sakura
1. Prologue

Prologue

The sun had barely arisen when three shinobi slid wearily through the misty streets of Konoha. It was early, and hadn't it been for their sensei's request they would never have stepped outside a door at that hour. But as 'lucky' as Team Seven was, they were all demanded on meeting their sensei at their usual rendezvous at five am. Of course, there had been a lot of whining and complaining from the blonde boy and less from the cherry-haired kunoichi. The raven-haired boy had merely responded with an indifferent 'hn', even though he wasn't happy with the early meeting either. But keeping his cool, expressionless and indifferent façade did apparently mean a lot to him. People had gradually stopped wondering about his more or less weird behavior and got used to his rather hostile personality, and his team was used to it too.

As time passed by, the three pairs of footsteps came closer to each another until they met on the pavement of the bridge. The Uchiha had been the first to arrive, sharply followed by the rosette-haired kunoichi. Aside from their sensei, the blonde was the last to appear. Then, about half an hour later, their sensei arrived. He was as usual reading his orange, probably-porn-filled book. Wearily, he raised his gaze upon the three sleep-starved chuunin in front of him and snapped the book shut with an eye crinkle.

"Sorry I'm late, but I met an old lady who-"

"LIAR!!!" the kunoichi and the blonde boy growled in unison while pointing accusingly at the slightly older shinobi, who silently scratched his neck. He had probably used every single excuse in the world by now, and no matter how reliable the excuse sounded to him, neither of his students believed him. The thought was a bit disappointing to him, because in teamwork trust meant more than everything, and if he couldn't earn his students' trust future missions could go deeply wrong and cause fatal mistakes. But he presumed it was his entire fault, and he would make up for it once they grew older and could comprehend the importance of trusting each other completely. For now he must bear with their distrust.

As an answer, he merely smiled sheepishly through his mask and chuckled nervously.

"Ano, Kakashi-sensei, why do we have to meet this early today?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked quite curiously and placed her emerald orbs on the still nervously chuckling sensei. He stopped his fake laughter and got a rather serious look in his face.

"Today you have a mission-"he managed to answer before he got cut off by a shout of excitement.

"Ne ne, Kakashi-sensei, what kind of mission!?" the blonde boy asked loudly, eagerly, and let his widened, blue eyes linger impatiently on his sensei.

"… I was going to tell you right away…"Kakashi sighed airily through his mask.

"Naruto, you baka," the kunoichi mumbled in annoyance and gave her teammate a scowling glance.

"Tsch," the dark-haired Uchiha uttered and crossed his arms.

Naruto shut up for once, but his face still held that certain eager expression.

"We are all going to a village in the mountains southwest of Konoha. Around the village is a big forest where we're going to collect some special herbs to the village's priestess," Kakashi said monotonously, "And don't misunderstand this; it isn't a regular D-ranked mission-"

"What is it then, sensei?" Naruto once again chirped loudly. He probably wouldn't have cut his sensei off if he knew the kunoichi would smack his upper arm hard enough to send him off the bridge and into the clear stream underneath. When he once surfaced, he sputtered out a mouthful of water and coughed briefly.

"Ouch, Sakura-chan, why did you-"

The raven-haired boy didn't restrain his triumphant smirk, which caused Naruto to shut up immediately and stare angrily at his teammate.

"Oi, Sasuke-teme, who are you laughing at!?" he growled while crawling on to the water surface and then jumping up on the bridge edge.

"I'm laughing at **you**, dobe," Sasuke answered provocatively. Naruto leaped down on to the robust pavement and grabbed the Uchiha's collar, intended on lifting him above the ground. Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough to do so as Sasuke stiffened his body in defiance, a victorious glint still in his dark charcoal eyes.

Their sensei sighed despairingly and asked: "You want the mission or what?"

"Oh, I forgot," Naruto mumbled embarrassingly and let go of Sasuke's collar, receiving another triumphant grin from the other boy as he did so.

Kakashi and Sakura both sighed airily in unison.

"As I was about to say, it's a B-rank mission. People – probably shinobi like us – are sent out to collect those herbs too. The village's priestess can't tell which village they're from or how strong they are. But one thing is certain; they won't let us get the herbs that easily. Taking this mission is actually like gamling."

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged challenging glares, both boys' lips curled upward.

"I'm gonna collect more than you, teme" the blonde said confidently.

"In your dreams, dobe,"Sasuke answered with a cocky smirk.

Kakashi and Sakura sighed once again. Despite that both Naruto and Sasuke now were sixteen they still fought like they had done at age of twelve. That frightened Sakura just as much as it annoyed her.

"So, I guess you're coming with us, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, her brows creased in annoyance toward the boys.

"Yes, I am," the silver-haired jounin answered with a slight smile.

"I'm also gonna collect more herbs than you, sensei," Naruto said proudly and laughed.

"With your Kage Bunshin you might win, yes. But then again, it requires intelligence to recognize the herbs, and that gives you a large handicap."

Sakura chuckled of her sensei's ready answer and then asked: "Sensei, Sasuke-kun, can't you use your Sharingan to find them?"

"No, it's only Byakugan which is able to do so," Kakashi replied with a smile.

"Oh, I see," she said and smiled back, "But why isn't it Team Eight or Nine who've gotten this mission then?"

"Unfortunately, they're busy at the moment," Kakashi then answered and picked up his Icha Icha book from his pocket in a swift move that gave away that he had done that gesture too many times by now.

"Ne ne, Sakura-chan, with my Kage Bunshin we're much better than Team Eight and Nine," Naruto claimed proudly.

Sakura sighed, Kakashi let his one-eyed gaze brush over the pages silently, and Sasuke merely uttered a hushed 'tsch'.

Naruto then sighed too, realizing he was too eager compared to his teammates.

"Let's go," Kakashi said and began to walk, the book in front of his face and a hand in his pocket. His team followed obediently, all heading for the Hokage Tower to get the mission scroll and further details about the mission.

Afterwards, they would all head home and pack for the trip.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The night had slowly devoured the light blue of the summer sky, leaving an ebony nuance and millions of stars on the endless heaven. The air was crisp and several breezes rolled through the mountainous landscape, each time catching the hair and other loose fabrics and objects worn by the four shinobi. The rocky ground cracked slightly beneath their feet. Several weary sighs left the pink-haired kunoichi's lips. She was tired of walking. The same were the others from her team, but apparently they preferred keeping their strong façades while having a 'who-can-hide-his-fatigue-for-the-longest-time' competition. Naruto was full of stamina, Sasuke was incredible good at keeping his façade up, and Kakashi… Kakashi was just in a lot better physical state than his younger students, _plus_ he had mastered that indifferent façade far too well. The outcome was clear, though she new none of the boys would agree their defeat.

She sighed once again.

She wasn't good at that kind of competitions, those games for dominance. She was just happy that the boys wouldn't judge her since they saw her as the team's weakest member. Sure they had their reasons to think that, and sometimes she agreed with their thoughts, but she considered herself much stronger than before Sasuke was offered to join Orochimaru's "army" four years ago. She was happy he had denied.

She sighed again, let a hand run through her cherry hair and sent the moon a weary glare.

Naruto glared briefly at Sasuke, who was to his surprise staring back. They sent each other a triumphant smirk and sped up a bit. Sakura sighed again of the boys' ridiculous challenge for dominance.

"Sensei, are we ever gonna stop or hold a break? Seriously, this is killing me, and those idiots aren't making it better by speeding up every third minute," Sakura mumbled and glared at the boys, who both ignored her glance.

"Yes, we're going to stop when we reach the next inn,"Kakashi answered, his voice low and with no signs on exhaustion.

"Ah, you're tired, sensei?" Naruto grinned provocatively. He took Kakashi's words as an unspoken defeat, which he somehow knew was underestimating his sensei. At least it wouldn't hurt trying to make the older man admit it.

"I don't recall saying that," Kakashi answered monotonously, something like a smirk lingering underneath his mask, which the three of them could spot through the tight textile. Naruto scoffed and placed his attention on Sasuke to send him another challenging gaze. They both sped up again.

_The next inn…_

Sakura sighed again. She knew it meant several hours until stop.

It was at least three hours since they last had passed an inn. To Sakura's annoyance the lack of tourists in the mountain villages meant a lack of inns. This was completely understandable to her, though, since randomly placed inns probably would go bankrupt in no time. But to her – _their_ – luck there were a few inns out in the wastelands. They just had to wait for the next abandoned-looking inn on their way.

After another couple of hours they could glimpse some lights on their road. Sakura sighed in relief and she knew Naruto – and probably Sasuke too – was close to do such as well. Though, none of the boys, or Kakashi for that matter, had shown the smallest symptom on exhaustion yet. It amazed _and_ amused her. And annoyed her. But she was too tired to analyze her opinion about it. It wasn't even important.

_Goddamn, the boys are persistent._

She smiled weakly and glanced quickly at Naruto. He was still focusing on his "fit as a fiddle" façade. And so was Sasuke. Confirmation was not needed when it came to their sensei; he always wore it – in the mall, in the village, during missions… She would even bet he had it when he-

_Oh no, don't go there, Sakura! No such thoughts about your own sensei…_

She snorted quietly and shook her head. She had undoubtedly grown tired in the last two to four hours of walking. But as long they were going to stop and settle in for the night nothing else mattered. The only thing she could focus on was sleep. They had, after all, been travelling since early morning, and her calves were sore and her whole body was weary, slowly but torturously going numb. And all she could do was watching, _feeling_, it as they went for the lone inn somewhere ahead of them.

Another sigh escaped her lips, and she did not care if her team thought her as weak after literally hearing her exhaustion. It was their fault; their persistence had let them skip the break they were supposed to hold a few hours ago. If the boys hadn't exclaimed that they were full of energy and willing to reach the inn in the last whole stroke, they would have bunked down and went to sleep for a few hours before continuing. Of course, showing weakness was not something the boys on her team would ever do in one another's presence.

Would their constant fight for dominance ever stop?

Sakura's inner answer brought a frown onto her weary features.

No, of course they wouldn't. If Naruto became stronger than Sasuke, Sasuke would never accept it and find ways of becoming stronger, and Naruto would never accept if Sasuke was strongest. Two boys with the same level of persistence. That couldn't end well, and Sakura knew that very well.

To her – _their – _relief they were close to the inn, and they could make out the building in the darkness. If Sakura had had the energy, she would have run the last couple of hundred meters, but even Naruto and Sasuke were too fatigued to do so. If they couldn't, she couldn't either. That was a sad reality Sakura had let burn into her mind since the beginning of Team Seven, and when it came to everything else than healing she could still rely on that reminder. Mostly. She had yet not proved herself wrong.

She spotted Naruto and Sasuke exchange challenging looks again, and she exhaled loudly, tiredly.

Suddenly she saw Kakashi stiffen faintly, followed by Sasuke and then Naruto. First then _she_ felt it. Chakra. Prominent chakra from nearing shinobi. She could already tell that these shinobi weren't allies by the way her team acted.

"Mask your chakras. We're going inside the inn for the night. None of us are able to fight in this state, so it's better to stay unnoticed," Kakashi said under his breath. He held no signs of fright like his students. Even Sasuke and Naruto had stiffened slightly of the reality that they were too fatigued to fight that moment.

They all masked their chakras as they were told. Save for Kakashi and Sasuke, Sakura had done it best, leaving Naruto dead last with his vague chakra control. In fact, she was actually next last, it struck her. Despite her great chakra control there was always somebody who was better than her, which annoyed her greatly. She had, after all, been so determined to become the most powerful on their team so she one day would be able to protect the ones she loved. Even after becoming Tsunade's apprentice and increasing her skills significantly Naruto and Sasuke had managed to become stronger than her.

She wasn't weak, but compared to her teammates she was. No matter how strong she became, she would always stand in their shadows – Naruto was the container of the Kyuubi, and Sasuke was the Uchiha prodigy, and Kakashi was the famous Copy Cat, leaving her as nothing but the Hokage's apprentice. She would never catch up on them, would she?

That was another sad realization sticking to her mind. To her team she would always be the damsel in distress.

Kakashi was, of course, the first to reach the inn, sharply followed by this two male students and then Sakura. They went inside, silent as they still assessed the strange chakra outside. Motioning for his students to wait, Kakashi went to the counter where an old woman was stationed tiredly. Had she been standing there all day and waiting for costumers? Sakura felt a bit pity for the woman.

"A room for four, please," Kakashi asked gently, formally. Somehow that caught Sakura's attention, and she found it weird hearing such formal and normal behavior from her sensei, even though she knew it had always been there somewhere. She had never really heard him say 'please'. It made her wonder if she had been too inobservant in her sensei's company.

"I'm sorry, we do only have rooms for two persons each," the woman answered, her voice hoarse and lifeless, "Double beds, of course."

"Oh…" Kakashi muttered and scratched his neck casually, "Then two of them, please."

It struck Sakura that she had to sleep in a room alone with one of her teammates. Probably in the same bed into the bargain. It sent a shiver up her spine, and she let her hand comb her cherry tresses quickly, suppressing anxiousness.

One male was a pervert to a high degree. Though, he was the strongest and could protect her if anything happened.

The other was a hyperactive, semi-perverted boy who still had a slight crush on her. In his presence she would be anything but safe, she supposed

And the last… Well, he was a boy who she had strange feelings for. Whether she still was in love with him or not, she didn't know. But she knew it wasn't a good idea being in the same bed as him. She was afraid of being hurt, she guessed. Too, if they were attacked, he would probably protect himself more than her, unlike her other two teammates.

She hoped she would end up with Kakashi. After all, he was an adult who had completely control over everything. There was nothing being afraid of.

Speaking of afraid, the strange chakra outside had faded. Sakura supposed they were just ordinary jounin, or maybe ANBU, on mission. She could see the rest of her team also had noticed the disappeared chakra. Naruto was already grinning.

The old woman stirred slightly, picked two keys up from behind the counter, reached them to the silver-haired jounin who took then gratefully with an acknowledging, curt nod.

"Naruto, Sasuke, you share a room," he said when he had accompanied his students, and reached Sasuke the key, which Naruto, of course, took eagerly with a triumphant, goading glance toward the Uchiha, "And if I hear you fighting, I will sleep between you."

Visualizing the scene, Sakuras lips tugged into an amused smile.

_That would certainly cause strange rumors, now wouldn't it?_

Kakashi's eye crinkled into a smile as he saw Sakura's thoughts clearly readable on her expression. Naruto and Sasuke were already arguing about who was going to have the whole bed. With them still bickering, the four shinobi headed to their rooms, tired and exhausted but still nonetheless loud, especially when it came to a certain blonde. Sakura rammed her elbow into his side, shutting him off for a moment before he began again, now louder than before. Sakura sighed despairingly as she followed her sensei into their room.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Sakura lay turned from her sensei who was utilizing every inch of his side of the bed, casually finding comfort beside his still awake student.

Stirring, Sakura turned her head to her sensei's masked face, seeing as he slowly exhaled. She doubted he was asleep though; a shinobi of his caliber was able to feel if somebody nearby wasn't asleep and therefore could be a threat. Even in sleep they were always on guard. The thought was impressive, yet annoying. She didn't like knowing that _he_ would be awake because _she_ couldn't sleep. On the other hand, maybe he was able to calm his senses and force himself to sleep anyway. If not, he was a damn good actor. If you didn't know Kakashi's capability you would have guessed he was sleeping like a cat in the sunlight.

Four year with this man had proven otherwise.

The cherry-haired kunoichi felt quite cold. They were sharing one big bedspread, but Sakura had avoided proximity and were therefore only in charge of a third of the coverlet, which wasn't enough. She was also lying on the edge, gravity threading to pull her down. Too big movements would wake him and stir her balance, so she remained still.

Hot breaths came from his directing, caressing her skin awkwardly comfortably. She still wore her tight shorts and mesh shirt she usually wore under her red shirt. Her skirt had been dirty, and her shirt sweaty, so she had discarded them into a neat bunch on the floor. Kakashi had removed his jounin vest and shirt, which meant that his chest merely was clothed by the tight textile from his inner shirt, which was connected with his mask. Sakura was in no doubt that he was handsome and that his toned chest and stomach would confirm that too through the tight fabric. She was sure she could see everything underneath it. Glimpsing back seemed so tempting, but if he really was awake and caught her the moment she did, she would hear about it for the rest of her life. Or so she was sure.

Taking no chances, she sighed silently and turned her head back toward the wall. Why she was beginning to think such things about her own sensei was a mystery to her, and she knew it was ethically wrong. Ino would probably have done it without hesitation, studying his every curve and muscle, letting her eyes trail the figures of his masculine form. But Sakura was different, or so she tried to convince herself.

_He is my __**sensei**__, for God's sake! Nobody has such interest in their own sensei. He is even fifteen years older than me. It would be gross._

She then brushed the topic aside, mentally commenting that it was merely a girlish dream seeing such a handsome man. If she was going to ogle somebody, then it should be Sasuke. For that she would have a motive.

Closing her eyes with another sigh, she rubbed her arms slowly to prevent awakening the jounin beside her.

_Dammit, it's __**freezing**__ in here!_

Suddenly she felt a hand position itself on her arm. She bit her bottom lip to restrain a gasp. His hand was warm on her skin.

"Sakura. You are freezing," Kakashi's well-known voice said softly, and Sakura jerked her head in his direction, shocked after finally having convinced herself that her sensei was asleep. Apparently not. Luckily she hadn't been ogling him.

"I don't bite. You can come closer," he said, amusement playing discretely in his voice, "It's not a good idea catching a cold before a mission."

The man was unsurprisingly correct in his statement. Sakura sighed soundlessly.

"Oh… S-sure, Kaka-sensei," she answered, honestly not too comfortable by having to sleep closer to the man her traitorous thoughts were lingering to. She praised herself lucky that he wasn't able to read her mind. That would have caused troubles.

Sakura soon found herself laying only half a meter from her sensei, her back naturally turned to him. Once again his breath felt hot against her skin, and it somehow surprised her how even he could breathe through his mask.

The warmth from Kakashi and the coverlet was enough to keep her warm, and she felt her lids become heavy, her head somewhat weighty and thoughtless for once.

That was, until she thought about how close her butt was to his crotch.

A blush crept onto her pale cheeks as her eyes widened slightly in realization. She mentally cursed herself for thinking like that. This way she would be unable to get any sleep at all.

_Damned hormones…_

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

When Sakura woke up next morning, Kakashi was already up. Naruto had caught a cold, which indicated who had gotten the bed and who had slept on the floor. Honestly, it surprised none of them that Naruto had been the one losing.

Sakura hadn't slept too much that night, since _certain_ thoughts had been nagging in the back of her mind. Kakashi, on the other hand, had fallen asleep immediately and was now fresh as ever.

The mission went as planned, and fortunately the enemy shinobi were easily held aside by Kakashi as his three students had collected the herbs. Surprisingly, Naruto hadn't mistaken the plants, and ended up collecting more than Sasuke. He had then claimed that they were even again.

The priestess had thanked them and let them eat at her house that day. Naruto and Sasuke had eaten like pigs, as usually having a competition. Naruto won but ended up getting sick because of his cold. Sasuke had claimed that such thing couldn't be called a victory.

All the way home they had also tried to surpass each other, pissing Sakura off because of her lack of sleep. When Naruto had asked, she hadn't told him why she couldn't sleep the previous night.

But since that mission she felt it a bit harder looking her sensei in the eye without blushing slightly. Again, she tried to convince herself that it was merely her hormones playing a trick on her.

Maybe it was, maybe not.


	2. Counterattacks and Noodle Soup

Chapter 1: Counterattacks and Noodle Soup

From where she stood she could see it all; the endless, blue sky, the sun diving for the horizon, the rivers here and there, the lush green treetops and the mountains. She could also hear the chirping of the countless birds gracing the sky above her.

However, the only thing she focused on was the blonde boy in the clearing in the middle of the forest. She saw him form some hand seals and knew that would cause at least ten Kage Bunshin. A second after she spotted eleven identical boys; her intuition rarely disappointed her when it came to her friend.

To her luck, he hadn't spotted her. Taking form as one of his clones – the boy wouldn't count them anyway – she joined the crowd, a sly smirk gracing her now masculine lips. If he had seen it, he would have recognized it right away, but he was merely an inobservant, hyperactive and pretty much goaded shinobi that moment. She gladly took advantage of that.

"Before you begin searching for Sakura-chan, I want you to hide your bells differently, so that she doesn't know where to look once she finds the real me," the true Naruto said, and his clones all picked a fake silver bell with an orange ribbon up from their left shoe, which Sakura easily memorized. Naruto himself didn't move his bell.

_Naruto, you certainly aren't a great thinker, now are you?_

The thought made Sakura smile a very un-Naruto-ish smile, which he of course didn't spot. Her best friend had too many weak sides for his own good.

"Now, go find her!" Naruto shouted excitedly, and they all disappeared in different directions.

Her surveillance was done, and after quickly looking around to make sure she was alone, she released the Henge. Praising herself lucky that Naruto once had taught her Kage Bunshin, she made a single clone and then used Henge again. Now she had a clone which looked like her, Haruno Sakura, and she herself looked like Naruto. So simple, yet brilliant. She could swear that Naruto wasn't able to compel such a simple strategic as she was performing.

"Now, fight me like you're the real me,"she demanded her clone, smiled slyly and began shouting: "I've found her!!"

As she spotted several Narutos appear she began fighting her own clone – not to the extent of destroying her, of course. That would be a suicidal move to her ridiculously simple plan.

"I've got you, Sakura-chan!" the real Naruto claimed triumphantly, revealing his true self as he appeared. Any other shinobi wouldn't be able to distinguish Naruto from his clones, but Sakura had managed to sense him most of the times.

Sakura, still disguised as Naruto, made ten Kage Bunshin herself, and they began attacking Naruto's. Now there were twenty-two Narutos and one Sakura. The fake Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke as she was stabbed in the arm. The damage had been insignificantly small and nothing she couldn't easily heal. She knew that Naruto wouldn't cause her serious harm.

The real Naruto looked dumbstruck as he eyed the redoubled number of himself. Sakura threw a kunai at him, making a tiny but just accurately visible trail of blood on his left cheek. She was infallibly able to distinguish him from all the clones. Naruto himself didn't know who had thrown the kunai since they all looked like him and fought each other. The ones attacking him were easily killed off.

A few more clones disappeared, were neutralized to smoke.

He knew what Sakura had planned, and he knew it was working too well.

"Dammit, Sakura, you're always too sly," he growled, a challenging grin on his features. Now he just needed to find out who his own clones were, and who Sakura's were. And who Sakura was. In this riot it seemed impossible.

He spotted one clone disappear, but not into smoke. A clone wasn't able to teleportate…

His face turned into a triumphant smirk as he hastily blocked the attack from behind, undoubtedly the real Sakura. She still did not release the Henge.

"Nice try, Sakura-chan," he said, a well-known, amused look on his face. He easily recognized the smile gracing the lips of the distinguished kunoichi. It looked rather weird on him; that smile only fit Haruno Sakura, with her pink hair, pale skin and jade eyes that made the lush green of the forest surrounding them look bleak in comparison.

"I know where your bell is, Naruto," Sakura said, victory lingering to her now own, feminine voice. She saw no reason for disguising her voice now that Naruto had discovered her.

"Now that you have revealed yourself, please release the Henge so I can see your pretty face again. I miss it," he said, tease easily caught in his voice, "And how do you know I haven't hid my own bell another place after going to search for you?"

That possibility had passed her mind, but she had refused it, supposing that Naruto wouldn't think steps ahead. Her intuition about him _did_ fail at times, though not often. This was one of the rare times, unless he was bluffing, which wasn't unexpected.

Uzumaki Naruto was, after all, the number one ninja of surprises.

Seeing no reason for maintaining her disguise, Sakura released the Henge Technique, her teeth slightly gritted and her brows scrunched.

_He __**can**__ be bluffing… After all, he is not incompetent as a ninja, merely sticking to simple ideas. But I doubt he had seen this coming._

Flick-flacking as Naruto lunged at her, she skidded to a halt around twenty meters away and smashed a chakra-filled fist to the earth, causing the ground to shatter and crumble underneath them. The remaining Kage Bunshin disappeared by the violent quake, and Sakura made ten new, looking like her true self of course, and motioned for them to attack Naruto.

After throwing a smoke bomb, Sakura joined her horde of clones and lunged for the blonde's leg while he was occupied by her clones. To her horror there was no bell in his left shoe, which made her eyes widen in realization.

_Either he was telling the truth, or then this is-…_

What apparently only had been a replacement of Naruto turned to a mere log, leaving a frown on Sakura's face. Spotting the explosion tags on it, she quickly leaped away and landed without range of the explosion, which soon lit up the area with a deafening bang.

She sheltered her eyes to prevent stray splinters accessing her most important sense. When the log was no longer existent, Sakura let her eyes trail over the area, searching.

Suddenly she was grabbed from behind, her arms wrung painfully to her back as a set of lips moved to her ear.

"You are underestimating me, Sakura-chan. Did you forget that smoke bombs are the perfect medium to use when you do Kawarimi?" Naruto's voice, somewhat calm but still playful, triumphant as always. She gave a hiss as she felt her arms slowly being put out of joint, and a clone of Naruto appeared in front of her, began rummaging, searching her body for her bell.

Knowing that everything a Kage Bunshin discovered and learned would return to its owner when it was defeat, Sakura gave a slight growl. When Naruto's clone would disappear, Naruto would actually remember Sakura's body and figure since he literally had touched it himself.

Oh, he was on thin ice, and she doubted he knew it himself. She would have her revenge.

With a sly smirk Sakura rammed her forehead into the fake Naruto's, and he disappeared. Maybe too roughly, she then forced her heels to Naruto's shins, receiving a growl of discomfort as she was released.

"Touché, Naruto," she grinned teasingly, took advantage of his moment of pain and disappeared into the forest.

She needed to come up with a plan that would actually work. She needed to get Naruto's bell before he got hers. She needed to do something she normally wouldn't do; after a tight friendship through several years they had come to know one another's way of fighting. It was useful when working together on ANBU missions, but when sparring with each other, as they did now, it was both an advantage and a disadvantage. She could predict most of his attacks and knew both how to strengthen and weaken them, and he did the same with her way of fighting. They sparred to force each other to provoke out unusual plans, learning how serious it was to be able to change your way of fighting if you fought someone who knew you enough to predict and counter your every move and attack.

Normal shinobi would have though Naruto and Sakura was sparring for fun, and yes, it was fun, they couldn't deny it, but this was actually ANBU training. They had recently passed the ANBU exam and joined, and they were contemporary on the same team with two others they didn't really know. Their team had only been on a few missions, since most teams were going to be renovated. Until Tsunade had designed perfect teams, the ANBU members were loosely thrown into teams as they passed the exam. It was only a matter of days, maybe weeks, before the teams would be changed finally until Tsunade saw them as perfect.

That Sakura couldn't be on team with her best friend was a sad realization she had to accept. Of course, there were both pros and cons about being in team with your best friend. She would be able to rescue Naruto if he was hurt, but if he was killed Sakura would be mentally damaged and might be too shocked and unable to fight. She knew that Tsunade knew that too, and Sakura had a feeling that she was not going to be teammates with Naruto after the renovation.

A sad thought, but she knew Naruto would become stronger when he had no one to protect him which Sakura usually had gotten a habit of doing.

For now they would just have to enjoy their sparring together, which brought Sakura back to what she currently was doing.

_Oh yeah, thinking…_

Changing your style of thinking and fighting was actually quite complicated. Sakura was usually thinking everything thoroughly and Naruto usually followed the line of least resistance. It was actually both admiring and frightening that he could think so simple during fights. No complicated plans, no time to study his opponent's style of fighting, strengths or weaknesses. Also, he had the tendency to use Kage Bunshin in every fight. True, it was a very handy little jutsu, but he was so easy to read after doing the same over and over again. He was simpleminded, and Sakura's job was to change that.

Sakura, on the other hand, used too much time thinking – precisely like she was doing now – and Naruto always expected her to have some kind of insane plan hidden in her sleeve among back-up plans if her main plain was cut in failure. Naruto's job was to make her think lesser, which she had tried when acting like his clone just a while ago. And that had almost worked. If Naruto hadn't actually been thinking ahead she would have won their match. Their training seemingly did have the right effect on them.

The question was then: Did Naruto expect her to only use simple plans, or did he think that she couldn't let go of her devious plans and attack like she normally would?

Or did he expect her to attack simply because he knew that she knew that he thought she couldn't let go of her normal fighting style? Or did he expect her to attack normally because he knew that she knew that he knew tha-

_Okay, stop right there, Sakura! You're over-thinking again, and you're confusing yourself! _

The last couple of days they had been sparring she had attacked normally, letting simple plans into her whole big plan. Almost every time Naruto had been close to fall for that trick, but he gradually seemed to see it come. He knew that she used simple plans which actually were though thoroughly; attack carelessly, concept strong and always prepared for failures.

That was completely opposite of what Naruto was doing. And he knew how she was fighting now. She had to change it once more, giving him the final surprise and win. Then she could find another style tomorrow.

Today she knew he was quite aware of her way of trying to confuse him. What she yet hadn't tried was setting up traps. She didn't really know many, but she could try – she would rarely try anything she knew she wasn't good at. Maybe Naruto knew that was a change and therefore a surprise attack, and maybe he hadn't shed one single though about it.

She decided to try. If she failed, she would make up for it tomorrow when they would have their next bell test. For now it was three points to Sakura and two points to Naruto. Sakura had been the first one adjusting herself to her opponent's way of fighting, since it was quite difficult forcing Naruto to think a bit more than usual.

The thought was actually quite funny, but despite his simpleminded fighting style he was actually a strong shinobi. Some of the honor was thanks to his ability to surprise his opponent, which Sakura had lost to now twice. And true, his Kage Bunshin had been involved in both…

Maybe he was actually a genius when it came to handling Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Admirable, Sakura must admit, but nonetheless useless in some circumstances. Of what she knew, Naruto had yet not been in any situation where his Kage Bunshin technique hadn't been useful.

Yet…

Sakura promised herself that she would find a way to prove that wrong. After all, her job was to make him think differently, forcing him to come up with new strategies. If he was unable to use Kage Bunshin he had to trash his normal style of fighting and try something new. She would think about a way to do so for tomorrow, for now she had to focus on _this_ spar.

_Okay, traps… I will be using traps. Let me see, what will be suitable? _

Thinking of how easily Naruto had stepped into Kakashi's trap eight years ago, she smiled as her thoughts already began forming several ideas of how to surprise the blonde. In the original Bell Test Kakashi had 'dropped' his bell on the ground inside a noose. She knew that Naruto wouldn't fall for that again, since he obviously had been aware to not do such a stupid move again. She was sure that he knew that she had considered it, knowing that she would find it hilarious if he actually fell for that again.

And yet, maybe he was sure Sakura wouldn't make such a simple trap because he knew that she knew he wouldn't fall for it, so that he actually found it completely unexpected. If that was the case, Sakura could take advantage of it and also get a good laugh if he actually fell for it.

But she was sure that she would underestimate him that way – it would be her failure like two times before. After all, she should keep reminding herself that the boy had made an ANBU; he was not weak and not to be underestimated, no matter how dumb he could seem now and then. That was the mistake his opponents had made, and they had paid dearly.

She should neither underestimate nor overestimate him. Overestimating him was merely a waste of effort.

_Now, where is he and what is he planning? _

…

_And what am I going to do as a counterattack?_

Sakura rummaged her thoughts, trying to find something that would work out perfectly for Naruto's level of thinking.

Noticing the darkness slowly creeping onto the sky, she smirked somewhat wickedly, a well-known sly glint in her emerald eyes. She would definitely use the darkness to her advantage

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"_The looser gives supper!"_

Naruto remembered these words clearly. He was, after all, the one exclaiming them eagerly before he and Sakura had begun their spar in the morning. He too had noticed the setting sun and knew they had been sparring for around twelve hours, only a few breaks when they needed food and water.

He also knew very well that his best female friend soon would be fatigued while _he_ still had some stamina left; a lovely advantage from the Kyuubi.

He would run her exhausted and give the final blow when she was too tired to keep up with his speed. Surprising himself with the quite new and more tactical way of thinking, he grinned as he sat on the tree branch, rubbing his sore shins lightly as he still could feel her heels on them. He guessed he had deserved it after what his Kage Bunshin had done to her – not that he hadn't been aware of it in the beginning.

… Actually, he couldn't remember if he ever had touched his rosette-haired friend like that before. After the way she had responded he guessed that was not the case.

_Next time she'll definitely castrate me._

The though sent another grin to his face, well knowing that she really wouldn't do that no matter what he did to her. She was damned violent and quite mad at times, but she loved Naruto too much to ever harm him seriously. He doubted she would even if they had to try killing each other in order to survive. And he doubted he would be able to kill her. The years had brought them closer than ever, and no one had ever been such a good friend to him as she had. Not even Sasuke who he had seen as a brother to him.

Sakura was special, someone precious to him.

And yet, she was going to have a going-under so violent that she would beg to pay his ramen every day for the next couple of weeks to gain his mercy.

Or, maybe not, but the thought sounded cool, Naruto mentally crooned with a dreamy smile.

The day purple, winged pigs invaded the sky she would pay for his meals – she had told him so. Naruto, of course, had tried to find a way of letting that happen. And Tonton and purple paint had been involved. That Naruto had been punished dearly was no surprise, not even to himself. If Naruto ever had walked on ice thinner than his every hair straw it must have been that day.

When he remembered it, Shizune's face had actually looked hilarious just before she had gone into a frenzy state. It was a shame that he hadn't taken a picture.

Catching his mind very much off topic, he shook his head lightly and tried once again to dish up a plan. He knew that Sakura knew that he knew that she was close to exhaustion, and that he would take advantage of that. He just had to do it quickly because Sakura would carry out her plan before she went into a weak state. But if he managed to avoid her attacks until fatigue took over her he had already won. Or so he was sure.

If he won he would gladly eat to his heart's content at Sakura's expense. And he knew that she knew that too. And luckily for him, if Sakura won he would only have to pay for one bowl more than usual, since Sakura rarely ate more than one portion. To him it was almost a win-win situation.

The thought of free ramen made a smile grace his lips.

Forming some hand seals, he let thirty Kage Bunshin come to life.

Sakura would be surprised – and poor – when she found out that he actually had thought several steps ahead this time.

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With a contended sigh, Sakura stretched her arms agilely and eyed her work which much to her pleasure wasn't visible.

_Perfect. This should do it for now._

She had build fifteen traps around the area. Each consisted of chakra sensing exploding tags placed on four near trees, forming a square. When somebody entered the square the tags would ignite and explode; if a clone entered it would be defeated immediately, but if it was Naruto the explosions would merely bruise him here and there, nothing dangerous. Sakura's chakra bond around the square would then react when he stepped outside again, and she would feel it immediately. The blonde would most likely get a clue on what she had made once he stepped into a trap, but he would not be able to feel the small amount of Sakura's chakra that would linger to him when he leaved.

That way Sakura could distinguish Naruto from his clones, which she knew he would make. Then she would follow him, letting groups Kage Bunshin attack him now and then when he least expected it. Then, as final, she would join a group of her Kage Bunshin and attack him, knowing that he would think that she was a mere clone too.

It was more or less the same style of attacking she had used when fighting Zaku in the Forest of Death during the Chuunin Exam several years ago.

While she would be waiting for her turn to attack she would put a very strong chakra bond around the area Naruto was in, so that he wasn't able to escape immediately unless Sakura was defeated. She naturally knew that after all this her energy and chakra amount would be very low, and she knew that Naruto still would have enough stamina to beat her. It was merely a matter of seconds she had to knock him off feet when she finally attacked him herself; after a few seconds he would know that this was the true Sakura and then he would fight until triumph.

If she was fast enough and if luck was on her side today, she would return home with money in her wallet. If not, she would have to request more missions outside ANBU until she would have money enough to pay her rent.

Sakura quickly made sure her chakra was masked, and hid in a tree out of range of the air pressure from the exploding tags, as she felt Naruto's chakra – or rather, one of his clones' chakra. No kind of Bunshin was able to mask their chakra, which Sakura had taken advantage of several times during her ANBU training with Naruto. This was naturally also a disadvantage to her, and therefore she usually didn't use it.

The same second she felt someone pass her chakra bond she heard the explosion. No one left the trap afterwards. In the next second two other explosions went off, scaring nearby birds which took off and crossed the sky rapidly, chirping loudly in awareness. Still no trespassers.

As furthermore five traps had been activated and no one had escaped the squares, Sakura gave a sigh. Was he going to assault the area with clones?

Another trap went off with same result. Sakura narrowed her eyes in aggravation. Then another trap was entered and exploded, and as Sakura was about to sigh again she felt something.

_Ohoho, there you are, Naruto…_

She felt Naruto rush into hide, apparently seeking solace from the sudden explosion. A second Sakura wondered if he even had noticed the other trap explosions since he literally had went into one, careless as if nothing had happened. A second it struck her that he could have planned this, knowing she would never hurt him severely. Maybe she was underestimating him and he knew it.

Seeing no reason for letting go of her plan she followed her teammate, finding him in the middle of a small clearing where he was looking rapidly around as if not quite getting what was happening here.

_Perfect…_

Sakura sent her first group of Kage Bunshin, then immediately began sealing the clearing with chakra as her clones lunged at her friend. When Naruto nearly had defeated the clones, Sakura sent more and continued sealing the area. Everything went as planned.

Seeing him wipe off her clones one after another, she sent her third group of Kage Bunshin. She was done sealing the clearing. Now she only had to wait for Naruto to finish these clones off. When only two clones were left, Sakura made five new and joined them as they lunged for her friend.

What she hadn't seen was the small grin on his face.

In a moment that to Sakura seemed to freeze she spotted that grin, but it was too late – a realization she had to accept as she saw him turn to her, ignoring her other clones, and then jabbing a foot into her stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs before she crushed forcefully into a tree. Collapsing, Sakura growled out her displeasure and could only watch as Naruto killed her clones.

He then finally turned to her, a smile that promised his triumph on his sly expression. Sakura could already feel her valet lighten as she was pinned to the ground, face and front downward with her arms wrung to her shoulder blades and a knee in the small of her back. She was literally eating dust.

"Gotcha, Sakura-chan!" the blonde exclaimed cockily, "Now, where's the bell?"

Sputtering out the dirt, Sakura hissed in defiance. The only thing she gained by that was more weight upon her back.

"Okay, okay, I admit defeat!" she muttered irritably, "But only if you tell me how you knew it was me." Naruto gave a low, masculine chuckle.

"You're not the only one here able to leave your chakra upon enemies to track them, ya' know," he told her, his voice proud, "You were underestimating me once again. As punishment I gain my third point plus I will eat you to poverty."

Sakura sighed despairingly, biting her bottom lip. This was what she had feared all along. But luckily their training helped her friend. In her case it could be discussed.

"It's tied to the knot of my hitai-ate…"

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As Naruto's fourth bowl of ramen was pushed aside, he sighed in satiety as Sakura sighed in discomfort for the upcoming bill. It was truly a mystery to her how Naruto could eat so much – he was thin and not particularly muscular. Where did the food end?

Sakura glared at him, a brow raised sulkily. Her friend stood up, stretched his arms wearily with a prolonged yawn and grinned at her. When she had paid, risen to feet and left Ichiraku she received a curt, strong pat on her shoulder and she was about to stumble forward, fatigue immobilizing her body slightly.

"Thanks for dinner, Saku-chan," he said, an undertone of provocation, satisfaction and amicability to his cheery voice. The rosy-haired kunoichi couldn't restrain a smile. No matter how much her friend could prove her wrong and spend her money on food she could never really hate him, barely be annoyed with him. She loved him too much to let her aggravation affect him. That it would never change was a thing she had sworn to herself. And she didn't want their friendship to end. Never.

"You're welcome," she muttered as a respond and swung an arm around his slightly broad shoulders, leaning her head against his bicep with a tired sigh. He pulled her closer, noticing her legs gradually failing under her.

"You want me to follow you home?" he asked softly, his voice suddenly worn out too. Over twelve hours. It had drained him too, but not to the extent as nearly collapsing like his female friend beside him.

"Only if you don't mind."

"If I did I wouldn't have asked. And besides, regard it as a gesture of appreciation for your lovely presence." His words were somewhat teasing, albeit genuine. She gave him a faint smile as they began walking toward her apartment complex.

"Thanks."

"So, what are you gonna do tomorrow?" he asked, changing topic.

"Train with you, of course. It's not like ANBU have particularly much spare time, you know…"

"From tomorrow we're dismissed since Baa-san is going to renovate teams. She has said we probably won't be working in ANBU for a week or so."

Sakura's eyes widened. How could she forget that? She supposed all the training had made her somewhat mentally absent lately.

"Oh… Well, then I guess I'll take the opportunity to get some medic missions and earn some cash to make up for your gluttony," she answered, nudging him softly with a giggle, "You?"

"Having a date with Hinata-chan," he answered as a slight blush crept onto his quite dirty cheeks.

"Ah, I see," Sakura said, winking, "How is it going with the two of you?" Though Sakura knew that Naruto wasn't the type who bragged about his private life, she still knew that he trusted her and wanted her to know what happened between her best friend and one of her nearest female friends.

"Y-you see…" Naruto began as his face got a deeper shade of red. Those words were enough for Sakura to giggle again and squeeze her friend slightly, knowing that something had been going on between him and Hinata recently. Even though it was summer it felt like the sweet spring atmosphere still hung in the air.


	3. Black Coffee and a Troublesome Mission

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//A/N//:

It is not often that I find my own stories brilliant or remarkably funny, but I seriously cracked up more than just once when writing this. Especially the scene with the coffee and the scene with the blonde were amusing to me.

This is the first time I have tried to write comedy into a love story, so I hope it works on you like it did on me.

Hope you will enjoy it because it takes me a lot of time and a lot of work to write a chapter…

Ciao~

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**Chapter 2: Black Coffee and a Troublesome Mission**

Bright sun rays shone through the narrow opening between the curtains, the light gracing his face warmly. He could spot the glow through his lids, keeping him awake although he stayed in bed defiantly. A day like this was not to be wasted when he had no missions or assignments. He would enjoy the peace just this one time. He couldn't recall when he last had had a whole day off.

After spending a whole week in Tsuchi, constantly looking for the Akatsuki to reveal themselves just the slightest, he was tired as hell. Even though he had had many S-rank missions they still wore him off slightly. A whole day off was the least he could expect.

Finding himself too awake to sleep and too sleepy to get up, he let a hand sneak underneath his pillow, grabbing his savior; a well-known, orange book. The feeling of the treasured bundle of pages between his fingers made his expression lighten up barely significantly. Oh, he would undoubtedly enjoy this day.

Or, that was what he thought until he heard determined knocks on his front door. Sighing, he complied with his thoughts that told him to answer the unknown intruder. A somewhat dark glint emerged in his weary sight as he rose to feet, pulled on his mask, slid on some pants and went to the door, Icha Icha Paradise securely hidden under his pillow once again.

Opening the front door slowly, somewhat looming eyes on the intruder, he met a bright smile, pink tresses and jade eyes. Any other shinobi would have regretted such an early interruption, but this girl knew more about him than any other shinobi, save for a few. She knew there was nothing to fear despite the killing look flashing in his mismatched eyes, though it was only the onyx orb revealed – the other crimson wore a constant murderous glint and was therefore closed to avoid repulsing the 'innocent' intruder. Even if it had been glaring at her too it would not have affected her.

"Mornin', Kakashi-sempai!"He didn't know whether her warming smile actually heartened or frightened him. Besides Naruto, Rock Lee and Gai he didn't know anyone who was able to put up such an energetic smile before eight am.

The silver-haired jounin noticed that the kunoichi wasn't wearing her ANBU gear, but instead her normal ninja clothes. If he remembered correctly, ANBU rarely had time for anything else than missions. Something was going on.

"Good morning, Sakura. What's up?" he asked, his voice monotone. As he once again received one of those bubbly and dazzling smiles, he felt his heart lighten up a bit. An unnoticeable smile crept underneath his mask as his eyes crinkled slightly.

"You see, ANBU are dismissed for about a week because Tsunade-shisou is renovating teams. Therefore I decided to take a normal mission to earn some money since Naruto ate me to poverty yesterday. A bet, you see…" she said, smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "So I went to Tsunade and asked her for a mission, and she told me to go get you first."

"Oh…" he mumbled, cursed inwardly.

_Dammit, there went my day off…_

"Come to think of it, why are you still sleeping? Or, you know, just awoken… Or something…?" she asked, stumbling over the words. The cause was unknown to her. She didn't devote it a thought.

"I returned from Tsuchi this night. Been there for a week, on an S-rank mission," he answered stoically, an undertone of boredom in his masculine voice. Sakura bit her bottom lip briefly, feeling pity for the man.

"Today you're most likely going to get another mission," she stated.

"I know," he answered, sighing discretely, "Come in, I'll get done in a moment. Want anything? Coffee, tea?" The cherry-haired girl followed her former sensei into his apartment.

"Coffee sounds fine," she answered, investigating his apartment quickly. No bigger changes since she last peeked inside she noticed indifferently and dried off her ninja sandals on the doormat.

"The coffee maker's in the kitchen," he said as he disappeared around the corner to the hall leading to his bedroom, "Oh, make a cup for me, will you?"

"Of course, Sempai," Sakura answered gladly. She had expected him to do it himself, though, but this was Kakashi; this was no surprise. She guessed the man was casual no matter what he was doing.

Sakura gave the coffee maker a brief glance before figuring out how it worked, then poured some water in and added some coffee in a filter bag. Before she turned it on she added further three spoons of coffee.

_He looks like someone who could need something stimulating._

She quickly figured out where the cups were and picked two just as Kakashi turned the corner, fully dressed and ready as ever.

"Whoah, that sure didn't take long time," she commented with a smile. He snorted lowly, eyes crinkling.

"I am a ninja, I can do everything," he answered jokingly. Sakura giggled, poured coffee into the cups and handed him one before sipping her own, tasting and testing. Satisfied with the strength, she gulped it all down in one swallow.

Kakashi gave the unusual black liquid in his cup a wide-eyed look, frowning slightly. He was not good with strong, black coffee. Deciding he hadn't the time to make some new – and knowing that he probably would receive a paralyzing punch on the upper arm if he did so – he turned from his former student, pulled down his mask and emptied the cup just as quickly as Sakura had done.

First thing he felt was the warmth that almost boiled his tongue and throat, then the exaggerated amount of caffeine that went straight to his system. Praising his own rigid self-control, he pulled up his mask and placed the cup firmly on a kitchen counter.

"That was pretty strong, you know," he said with a covered grin and eyed a firm, rosy eyebrow being raised in amusement.

"I know; you seemed rather weary and needed something to start your system," she grinned back and chuckled amusedly, knowing that it might have been a bit too strong for the other jounin's taste, "Besides, a ninja can handle everything."

_Caught on my own words… As expected from my former student._

Kakashi's silence caused a somewhat triumphant grin upon her features. This was spotted and responded with an eye crinkle. Then, casually, he motioned for her to head outside, and she complied with a satisfied smile as he followed her out of the apartment.

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The busty blonde tapped her nails continually against the surface of her desk, her features curled into a slight frown as she eyed the bunch of papers in front of her. Her head rested wearily on her other palm. She gave the seemingly endless bunch of paper work an irritated scowl and resisted the urge to brush it completely off the desk. Such thing would look bad; she was, after all, the Hokage. Good reputation was a requirement if you wanted to be a good Kage.

Not something that fitted Tsunade completely, but she managed.

She drew in a portion of air and released it heavily after what seemed like an eternity. There was so much work to do as a Kage, and yet Tsunade felt boredom creeping into her mind every now and then. What she once had visualized as being the Hokage's duty seemed like mere dreams now; there were no exciting fights all the time, just regular and utmost boring paperwork all day through – except when she helped at the hospital or had an excuse for leaving the Hokage Tower, which was becoming rarer and rarer. And worst was that she was not allowed to drink and gamble as often more, since that would hurt her reputation further. She saw the logic in it clearly, but she missed the free life now and then.

The Hokage had been awake a couple of hours, going through mission scrolls she needed to find appropriate shinobi for since early morning. She had been surprised to see Sakura standing in her office not too long ago, asking for a mission outside ANBU. The moment the younger kunoichi had approached, Tsunade had found a B-rank mission amongst the bunch of scrolls and papers, and she had known immediately who were fit for that one. She also knew that the silver-haired jounin wouldn't be too happy when receiving a task so soon after returning home. At least, this time he would have company of someone who stood him quite near.

She felt their presences a mere second before they suddenly stood before her desk, each with a greeting smile, even though the middle-aged blonde easily could spot slight annoyance on the man's countenance. With an inward snort she flashed an obliging grin.

"Good morning, Kakashi," she said, all signs of boredom suddenly faded as something finally happened again.

"Good morning, Tsunade-sama," he replied monotonously with a slight eye crinkle. The rosette-haired girl at his side admired his great talent of hiding annoyed expressions, even though his mask could be regarded as the cause, and she knew that. Still, it was among the countless of things she admired about him – he was a superior shinobi, and about that she had never doubted.

Pushing her stray thoughts aside, she led a lock behind her ear and stepped closer to her tutor with a permanent smile.

"So, have you found a mission for me yet, Tsunade-shisou?" In the same second, Sakura was lent a scroll, which she took and unrolled with excitement.

"Kakashi, this is where you enter the picture," the eldest shinobi said and beckoned for her fellow ninja to step closer, which he did silently, eyes lingering to the outstretched piece of parchment in the hands of his ex-student who already was reading somewhere on the middle of the scroll. As he neared, Sakura moved it sideward to give him a better glance at the mission details. Then, when she was done reading, she handed him the scroll completely. He let his tired gaze slide over the neat ink signs with a slight frown. When he was done he rolled the scroll together and stuffed it securely into his pocket.

"This is a B-rank mission, Tsunade-shisou. Aren't you underestimating us?" Sakura asked, her eyes holding a suspicious glint. The Hokage had expected this question and had already an answer ready.

"As you can see, this mission takes place in Tsuchi, which undoubtedly is an unfriendly country. Because of all the scouts and hunter-nins the rank increases to an A. The reason for sending Kakashi as your escort is because of two things: first of all, he knows the way. Secondly, you need protection in case of an ambush – and besides, if you were harmed fatally and were unable to heal yourself, I would lose one of the World's best medic-nins. Konoha can't afford that."

Between the lines Sakura spotted something deeper than Tsunade's need of her healing abilities; the woman regarded her as a daughter, which she knew, but she hadn't expected her to be definite afraid of losing her. The though heartened the younger kunoichi, whose lips curled into a smile. The blonde immediately spotted the smile and knew what her apprentice was thinking but decided not to support her theory. If the World was to know who her favorite student were, Sakura could be in danger when war erupted. As the Hokage, Tsunade could not let that happen.

The two shinobi in front of her nodded and gave each other a brief glance, then directed their sights at the Hokage once again.

"When shall we leave for the mission?" the silver-haired jounin asked, feeling no desire to travel to the quite far country again, but knew he had to. He could decline, of course, but he understood fully why Sakura needed him to protect her and show her the way, and he knew she would be unable to fulfill her mission if she was hurt or was not in possession of most of her chakra.

The Hokage leaned forward, rested her chin upon her linked hands as she eyed the lower ranked ninja before her.

"Since the man's disease seems urgent and quite fatal, I suggest you leave in a couple of hours. It wouldn't seem too good if I sent help too late. It would hurt my reputation as Hokage too," she answered with a wry smile, "And since you know the way, Kakashi, the two of you should be able to reach Tsuchi faster than any here in Konoha."

"Ah," they both mumbled in unison and gave a smile each, though Kakashi's clearly was more or less fake. This was no surprise, however.

"Is that all for now, Tsunade-shisou?" the rosy-haired girl asked and let her right leg support most of her weight as she let her body relax. The elder woman nodded curtly. Then, after sending each other a glance, both Kakashi and Sakura took off faster than any normal eye could follow.

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Noticing how the inhabitants of Konoha gradually had prepared their stalls at the market street, which she now was striding quickly through, Sakura greeted the quite familiar faces and avoided the countless of obstacles around her. Between all the stalls and booths, children were running and playing, laughing while doing so. The kunoichi could not restrain a smile as she spotted a very young girl, approximately around the age of four, standing in the midst of the narrow market street with a teddy in one hand while eating a seemingly very juicy apple with the other. The girl's hair was worn in pigtails and had a pinkish tint to it, which reminded Sakura about herself. Letting a hand pet the girl softly on the head as she passed her, she continued through the street, headed for the Northern Gate of Konoha.

Rounding a street corner and entering another market street, the cherry-haired ninja could glimpse the gate behind some tall stands and a couple of houses. Smiling to herself at the sight of another awakening market, she strolled speedily over the sandy ground and passed several stalls, when suddenly her stomach growled and she stopped. She spotted a vegetable and fruit booth and crossed the street to reach it, her hand diving into her pocket already. Seeing the bunch of juicy, red apples, the girl's lips tugged into another smile.

"Good morning, miss," the male seller said with a smile. He was short, quite chubby and had a short mustache that Sakura found charming on his ageing face. The ninja gave him a nod and a flashy smile, and she pulled up some coins from her pocket.

"I would like to buy five apples, please," she said and counted the money in her newly opened palm, smiling softly.

"Yes, of course, missy!" the seller grinned and took a silent moment to calculate the price, "It will be two-hundred yen, miss." At the time the man had finished his sentence, Sakura had already handed him the money and was now picking the apples she meant was the best, even though she did not really care whether she got the finest or not. Stuffing three of the chosen fruits down into her backpack by her feet, she quickly thanked the man and resumed her way towards the Northern Gate, one apple in each hand. By the time she allowed herself to take a bite of one, she spotted Kakashi leaning up against one wicket, his eyes lingering to a page of the well-known, orange book she had seen him reading countless of times by now. Approaching him, she threw an apple to test his senses and reflexes even though she already knew the outcome. As expected, the silver-haired jounin lowered his book a bit and grabbed the apple just before it hit the wicket above him, his eyes still clinging to the neat ink signs of an Icha Icha Paradise page. He finished the page before raising his gaze to the girl with a bored, yet greeting smile. Sakura herself already wore a wide grin.

"Thanks, but do not expect that I will eat it in front of you," he said, an undertone of tease in his voice. Nothing of his reply was unexpected to Sakura, and she took a big bite of her own fruit before beckoning for him to follow her, which he did silently. They nodded shortly to Izumo and Kotetsu who, once again, had gotten the job as gatekeepers. The men saluted back with a smile, and the two higher ranked shinobi exited Konoha.

"Have you remembered everything?" Kakashi asked while stuffing his apple into a side pocket on his backpack. The kunoichi took another big bite.

"I think so," she mumbled between chews, and finally swallowed, "I have checked thrice, so it is unlikely that I have forgotten anything." With a brief nod Kakashi shouldered his rucksack and rose to feet again.

"We will follow this route straightly until we reach a little town not too far from here – it will take us approximately half an hour to reach it – and when we have passed it we will continue northwest until we reach the border to Kusa, where I suggest we take a break and find us some lunch."

"Sounds fine to me," Sakura replied and finished the last of her apple, threw the core into the trees some meters away and wiped her hands in her tight, black shorts. Creating eye contact, they both nodded in unison and started running.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Sakura grimaced the moment she both heard and felt her stomach growl through the vague sound of her and Kakashi leaping from tree to tree at an inhuman speed. The male jounin's breaths were barely audible, while her own sounded more like a strangled cat's hisses. Mentally cursing herself for being fatigued so much faster than her former sensei – but really, what had she expected? – she let a hand sneak into her backpack to grab an apple, but she never got that far.

"Save them for later – the border to Kusa is very close and we will take a break in the first village we find," a male voice said monotonously and made Sakura's attention dart to him. Seeing the man looking over his shoulder to get her attention, the cherry-haired ninja smiled and withdrew her hand while nodding curtly.

"Okay. I guess they will make better use later, then," she responded off-mindedly and reestablished her attention upon the landscape before her. Hours of running had made her focus slightly blurred, and almost none conversation at all did not help on the matter. It was mere luck that she had not done anything stupid as tripping or running into a tree yet. Now that they soon were going to stop and eat something real, the kunoichi found focusing again a lot easier.

"What about you? Have you eaten anything today?" she asked to revive the spark of a conversation.

"Yes, the apple you gave me. And the coffee. Then nothing else," he answered. Raising her brows in something that for others would have been surprise, Sakura laughed. _She_ was not surprised _at all_.

"We have run side by side for hours now and I have not even noticed you pulling down your mask. That is just so typical. I guess that years of hiding your face have made you an expert." The only response was a short, triumphant snort from the older jounin, and as silence once again fell upon them they could glimpse the border gates of Kusa not too far away. A smile tugged the corners of Sakura's lips upward, and she felt her body beginning to relax, longing for a break. She hated running. She really hated running. But even so she restrained her complaints as they continued.

The shinobi could by now make out the dark green silhouette of the bamboo thicket on the other side of the massive stone border. Sakura guessed they would reach the border gates within five minutes; rather, she _hoped_ they would reach them in five minutes.

The sun was peeping in through the treetops, letting vague rays dot the ground several meters below them, and the girl found it refreshing to see how the forest slowly stopped and revealed a broad clearing before the bamboo thicket began behind the borders. She did not remember when she last time had seen such thick bamboo branches and so many fresh bamboo leaves in one place. Plucking and storing a few leaves for healing would be nice, she mentally noted and let a hand dug into her backpack to fish out an empty bag for herbs. She mentally listed some of the poisons, antidotes and other uses bamboo leaves had, and finally smiled peacefully to herself.

As the two jounin leaped down from the last trees' branches and resumed their run on massive ground, the wickets of the border gate started moving, and the ninja realized that it was guarded. Not that it surprised them, really. They stopped a few meters from the thick stone wickets, and Kakashi dug forth the mission scroll and the Hokage's certificate, ready to meet whoever had gotten the lonely and utmost boring job as gatekeeper.

A lanky, middle-aged and blonde kunoichi with heavily colored lips revealed herself with a high-pitched voice.

"Do you have a certificate?" she asked while stepping forth and eyeing Kakashi slowly with an arrogant smile on her crimson lips. Sakura's inner self rolled her eyes by the tune and attitude. The lady was quite pretty, yes, but her behavior cracked that fine façade. Kakashi did not seem impressed either as he reached her the mentioned piece of paper.

"I assume that you also need to see this," he spoke and handed her the scroll. She smiled, giving him both pieces of paper back.

"Normally, I would read it, but you look like someone I can trust. Besides, I hate reading mission scrolls," she answered and eyed Kakashi once again, this time from head to toe and up again, still wearing that flirty smile of hers.Without questioning, Kakashi took the scroll and certificate and buried them into his pockets. Finally, the woman directed her brown gaze toward Sakura who had been ignored until now. The younger kunoichi was examined in silence, and then the blonde looked at Kakashi again.

"Is she your girlfriend?" she asked, an undertone of bitterness in her voice. By these words, Sakura found it hard to not laugh. Was the woman _jealous_ of her being near the silver-haired jounin?

"Yes," Kakashi said monotonously, "She is." Instantly, Sakura found herself dumbfounded. She had a very good idea of why he had said it, but the Kakashi she knew had always been an honest man. So he did too think that the blonde woman was a sticky type who should be brushed off as soon as possible. The cherry-haired girl smiled by that, and the smile became triumphant as she received a brief death glare by the older woman.

"I see," the woman said and stepped aside, "You may enter. Be careful on your way."

Politely, Kakashi thanked, and the Konoha ninja passed through the gate and began running, the younger kunoichi still with a smile on her lips. As soon as the gatekeeper was out of sight, Sakura turned to her former sensei.

"I thought that you were an honest man, Sempai," she said, an accusing tone just with the intention of irking him ever so slightly in her voice. Silence fell upon them in a short moment, which soon was interrupted by the male jounin's smooth, deep voice, marked by a barely audible bitter tone.

"I know that type of woman far too well." Not telling her everything; not too much but neither too less. This was the type of answer she could have expected from him. The lack of words and information told her that this topic easily could be something that brought bad memories to him, so with wonder in her mind she decided to let the topic go with a firm nod of her head.

"Can we please hold for a while?" she asked, fumbling slightly with the small herb bag, and when Kakashi gave her a somewhat wondering look – she had already decoded his stoic glance – she smiled, showing him the bag, "Kusa has such fine bamboo leaves. They are good for healing."

They stopped as soon as she had finished her last sentence, and the cherry-haired kunoichi found a kunai and began cutting off some of the lightest green leaves. _The fresher, the better._

Kakashi waited patiently with crossed arms as he stood leaned up against one of the incredibly thick bamboos. The place gave him the creeps, but Sakura did not need to know that. She had not the slightest clue about what had happened there when he had been a young jounin, neither did she need to know. His personal stuff was not for sharing. Also, he doubted that she would keep silent to Naruto. And when _he_ knew such thing, hell was loose.

Closing his eyes, he sighed inaudibly. He had to think about something else than the death of his old, dark-haired teammate. Luckily, his all-time savior lay securely in his pocket. The instant his fingers brushed the spine of the vivid orange book, though, he was greeted by a smiling face.

"I am done, Kakashi-sempai. So, should we get going?" By the male jounin's brief nod, they both resumed their travel through the seemingly never-ending bamboo thicket.


	4. Cheap Wine and Apologies

_I apologize for taking so long with Chapter 3. It is not often that I write on my stories, but I felt like finishing this chapter today. _

_I received a comment yesterday, asking me how old Sakura is in this story. Sakura is 19 years old, and Kakashi is 33 years old. (He is 14-15 years older than she is! X3)_

_**Teaser:** Drama emerges between the two shinobi. How will they deal with it? (Oooh, the tension~)_

_Have fun reading! _

**Chapter 3: Cheap Wine and Apologies**

The first village they found lay surprisingly close to the border. Sakura felt as if she was starving to death already. During the time they had travelled through the bamboo thicket, her stomach had been playing up constantly, growling as if she had swallowed a furious lion. And even though a growling stomach was completely normal, it still brought her a slight blush and an uncomfortable feeling whenever the rumbling noise would return. She hoped it did not annoy the man by her side.

They slowed down when they reached the city, and together they entered it. The ground turned to pavement beneath their feet.

The kunoichi was quite surprised; for a small village there sure were many inhabitants. She liked the atmosphere, though. It reminded her of the market streets of Konoha. Booths and stalls with everything from fruit and deep-fried squids to handmade jewelry, toys and whatever people could think about selling, filled most of the main street. When looking further ahead, they could glimpse something that looked like a tower. Sakura assumed it was meant to keep track of the border between Fire Country and Grass Country in case of an invasion. Knowing that Fire Country and Konoha would never do such thing in the nearest future – unless Tsunade was given a good reason for attacking Grass Country - Sakura smiled. She could swear that Fire Country also had such kind of protection somewhere near the borders to the other countries. Of what she recalled, their 'protection' had not been used for a very long time. Peace had seemed to spread across the ninja countries after the deaths of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. Since then, no bigger threat had erupted for longer periods of time. A few political misunderstandings here and there, but nothing that was not solved in time.

When Sakura reestablished her focus upon the older jounin, he was already looking around in the crowd they had joined. She supposed that he was looking for a cheap restaurant or somewhere they could get lunch, and so she followed his example as they walked through the crowd together.

For a short moment, the kunoichi could glimpse other shinobi not far from Kakashi and her. Seeing that they wore the Hidden Grass symbol on their forehead protectors, she smiled softly to herself. It seemed that the villagers and the shinobi lived peacefully side by side there, too.

"Follow me," Kakashi mumbled audibly through the din. Knowing that he had probably found a decent place for them to eat, she trailed right behind him as he went for a destination somewhere her field of vision did not reach. He was still a lot taller than her despite that she was now nineteen years old and fully grown. Rising to her tiptoes to catch a better view of what they were headed for, Sakura lost all focus on the people around her, so it came as a surprise for her when a little boy ran into her. He gave an unpleasant and very exhaling '_oomph_' as he stumbled backwards. Sending the unknown, cherry-haired woman a narrowed glare, he pushed himself further away from her.

"Watch your step, woman! You could almost have killed me there!" he said accusingly, making the young Haruno's temper roll over the edge instantly, but she tried to calm herself.

"I am sorry," she said, but the boy still was not satisfied.

"I do not get how they let clumsy people like you become ninja. I could do a better job blindfolded!"

Soon she lost track of her former sensei, and when the boy was about to stomp away, she grabbed his upper arm and pulled him near her again while sending him a deep death glare. By his facial expression, it seemed that the boy fought to restrain a whimper of pain. Seeing through his not-so-successful façade, Sakura grinned evilly.

"Let me remind you that _you_ walked into _me_. Maybe _you_ should watch _your_ step. If not-" She was interrupted by a masculine voice.

"Fighting kids, Haruno?" Looking up and seeing that Kakashi was staring patiently at her with something that easily could be a sly smile hidden beneath his mask, she let go of the boy and caught his still angry gaze with her own one last time before she stepped beside him and followed the older jounin.

"I was merely correcting his behavior," she defended with a sigh. When she looked over her shoulder, the boy was gone. Shaking her head lightly, she made sure not to forget watching where she was going while she followed the man not far ahead of her.

Kakashi led his former student to a small, neat, and not too expensive eating place in the middle of the market street. Because of its position, Sakura expected the restaurant to be stuffed with inhabitants and noises, but as soon as she and Kakashi entered through the small wooden door, she knew she was wrong. It was almost empty. Only a few couples sat here and there at the small, circular tables. Noticing how every couple seemed to be more than just friends, the kunoichi valiantly fought a blush away as she sat down at a table in a far corner, Kakashi leading.

As they sat down, a waitress rushed to their table, handing them a menu cart each with a broad smile. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Had Sakura not raised her gaze to analyze the woman – a common ninja habit – she would not have noticed how said woman was ogling Kakashi and seemed to rid him of all clothes with her eyes. Somehow, Sakura found the woman's greedy gaze uncomfortable, even though she had no right and no reason to feel that way. He was her former sensei, now colleague and teammate. Heck, she should not even think of him as more than that. She shoved the thought aside.

But it did not change the fact that she would mark her territory anyway. Kakashi had no time to fool around with women on a mission like this. Sakura would even exclude the possibility.

"I will go for a glass of red wine," she said casually and put the menu down in order to lean closer to the man in front of her. "What about you, honey?" She was sure that she saw Kakashi react to the last word, but he maintained his normal expression.

"Wine sounds fine. And a bottle of water, please," he ordered. The waitress seemed disappointed and made sure to throw her curly hair from her shoulder as she turned away, and sway with her hips when she headed for the kitchen. Sakura noticed how Kakashi's one eye lingered to the woman's curves for a short second.

When they were alone, Kakashi sent Sakura a look that revealed that he knew exactly what she was doing. She smiled slyly.

"I can take care of myself, Sakura. I have rejected women before." She should have been embarrassed by his words, but only a slight crease of her brows came forth on her features.

"Well, you used dirty tricks at the border gate, so I guess I am allowed to do the same here." The silence that appeared between them told her that he did not approve, but apparently he did not want to make a quarrel out of it, either.

Finally, he nodded. "But we must not spread any rumors. That would bring us trouble." She knew that. She only allowed herself to do it in a public place because they were far from home, and word would die out before reaching Konoha. The people here did not even know who they were. She saw no real threat.

A second waitress appeared. This one was short and quite chubby, and she seemed completely uninterested in the silver-haired man as she served them their drinks. "Are you ready to order?" she asked. Kakashi handed the woman the menus.

"Yes. One number twelve and one number forty-six, please." The woman quickly scribbled the numbers down on her notepad and left the table.

"Hey! I did not even tell you what I wanted," Sakura said and gave the man a frown. "It was number twenty-three." Kakashi's only visible eye crinkled in a friendly but teasing smile as he said: "Oh, those two are for me. You did not order anything."

Instantly, Sakura felt her temper boiling. How _could_ he? She fisted a hand beneath the table and glared at him. He chuckled.

"I am kidding, Sakura. I figured that you might want fish instead of pork, so I ordered number forty-six for you. The oils in fish help building up your muscles, but I am sure you know already. Or am I incorrect?"

Sakura's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh…" she mumbled. "I did not even notice it. But you are right. Thanks." Kakashi did not reply to this, but looked around them, analyzing the restaurant.

Sakura hated it when he was right. It made her feel like the genin she once had been, and she savored the thought of herself being older and better. But no matter how much older, better or smarter she got, he would always be the superior.

She sighed and let her lips rest on the edge of the wineglass, smelling, analyzing. No matter where a ninja was, it was important to check the food for poison. You never knew if there were enemies around, or if someone had a grudge against you. But the kunoichi could conclude that the wine contained no toxin whatsoever, so she took a sip. It was sour, so she rigidly tried to restrain a grimace, but apparently it showed clearly enough for Kakashi to spot, because he broke out in a slight chuckle. Surely, their situation was weird, but was it necessary for him to laugh openly at her? Her response to him was a short glance while she gulped down the rest of the wine in one go.

It was horrible. She hated wine. But in order to show off to the flirty waitress she felt that it had been necessary. And now that she would have to pay for the wine, she also had to drink it.

Kakashi, on the other hand, smelled to the dark red liquid through his mask, and with a wrinkle of his nose he decided to donate it to the potted plant by his side. He did not even care if other couples saw him watering the plant so impolitely. He just poured and pretended like nothing. Sakura glanced at him wide-eyed, wonder as written across her face.

"Cheap wine is out of my interest," he explained stoically. Sakura blinked confused.

"Then why did you order it?"

"Playing along. And in order to check whether or not there are enemies nearby. Someone could try and assassinate us. An obvious chance would be through the wine." Sakura nodded. Of course. She had thought something alike, though she had more feared the first waitress rather than other enemies.

Silence fell upon them again.

Sakura had known Kakashi for seven years, and she had seen various sides of his personality. But sometimes he really surprised her. His little act at the border gates, and now this. Of course, she knew that he was a good and friendly man with an interest in his friends' wellbeing, but she had never seen him ordering for another because he meant they would like his choice better. And he had been right. A small smile was brought to her face.

"You know," Sakura began, "you are quite exceptional. One moment I think I know every side of you, and next moment you surprise me with your actions. You are indeed a man full of surprises."

Kakashi was surprised and amused by her declaration, and a slight chuckle passed through his mask.

"Those are kind words, Sakura," he said. "But do not think that I am the only one irregular here. You have shown sides of yourself that have taken me aback as well. For example when ordering the wine. I really did not expect you to dare acting as my lover in public. It was… surprisingly stupid of you."

And here she thought he was about to praise her back, but oh no, of course he was not. He apparently _had_ to ruin the good atmosphere.

Sakura frowned.

"I merely did what I thought would help you," she defended. "And it _did_ help you to get rid of that disgustingly clingy waitress. Did you not see how she was ogling you?"

"Oh, I did. But why does it annoy you that women find an interest in me?" the silver-haired jounin questioned back, an amused tone in his voice. "Especially now that I have proved that I can easily get rid of them myself, if I want to."

Again, Sakura was surprised. Not by Kakashi's words, but by the feeling in her stomach. There was no real reason why she found Kakashi's admirers annoying, was there? She was just being… practical. For the sake of the mission. She wished no delay in their mission. No obstacles.

_No obstacles… for __**you**__, dear!_ Inner Sakura sang scornfully. Sakura felt heat rise to her cheeks.

Kakashi was not implying that she was jealous of the other women, right?

Letting out a laugh, Sakura tried to break the awkward atmosphere that had once again settled between them.

"I just thought it would be more practical to get rid of your admirers as fast as possible. I thought it was the same reason that you lied to get rid of the blonde at the border gates. Or am I incorrect?" she replied, sending the bomb back to him.

He saw where she was going.

"Sakura, just let me handle my situation by myself. Meanwhile, you can rid yourself of the _men_ that catch sight of _you_. If you have yet not noticed, there are quite a lot of those, too. But because of me, they dare not approach you."

Again, she was surprised.

"You are kidding me, right?" she spat back in disbelief.

"No. If you took more time to observe the men instead of women, you would notice that, even now, more than two eyes are watching you discretely."

Sakura leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Why do you care? At least they do not _approach_ me or try _flirting_ with me. My case is different than yours."

Kakashi smiled slyly.

"I was merely pointing out you inobservance, Sakura."

Incredulous, Sakura stood up in a swift movement, the stool nearly tilting. Her narrowed eyes met his.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Then, in fast strides, Sakura disappeared into the women's toilet and slammed the door a bit too loudly to be an accident.

**-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-**

Sakura clenched her fists around the hem of her shirt. Surely, she had spent countless of hours in the presence of her former sensei, but never had it been as unnerving as now. He seemed to be provoking her on purpose. But why? He knew just how she would react to those things he said, so why did he say them? Was he deliberately trying to start a quarrel with her on a mission? Or was there possibly any other explanation to his behaviour?

She admitted that she had not been too formal herself, but he was worse than she was.

She sat down on the small wooden bench in the corner of the room, sighing deeply. She would not let herself be brought down by his comments. This was a serious mission with the goal of saving a man's life. They had no time for these emotional games.

Breathing deeply once again, the kunoichi stood up and washed her hands. She hated public toilets. Millions of bacteria. Looking into the mirror meanwhile, she watched her jade eyes stoically. No, she would not let his words taunt her.

She left the toilet casually.

**-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-**

God, what was he _doing_? Of course Sakura would be mad at him for saying such things.

He had seen her grow up to become a woman of willpower, but her self-confidence was still fragile despite her facade. So why did he keep pointing out her personal flaws and imperfections? Especially commenting on her skills as a medical ninja. He was so stupid!

He would apologize to her. The only way to save the mission from ending in a personal crisis was to think twice before speaking. Or perhaps not speaking at all. Then he could possibly not make her too angry with him. But he would still apologize.

He noticed how the first waitress to attend to them was eyeing him again from behind the bar counter. A slight smile was to find on her lips. A sly and thoughtful smile, full of intentions. Oh, he could do her. Had it not been for the mission, and for the presence of Sakura, he would have led the waitress behind the building and given her just what she wanted.

He broke the eye contact with her. It was too long since he had been with a woman. Maybe this was why he was acting weirdly around them, especially Sakura.

He stopped himself in his thoughts. Sakura was not a woman like all the others, and she should not be considered alike his "preys". It was out of question. Besides, he could never have a relationship with a woman with her personality and temper.

Once again he had to stop himself when the inner scenarios emerged. Just a flash of light peach-coloured skin and cherry locks to go with it, a flash of jade clouded with lust. Pressing his eyes together, Kakashi restrained himself. The uninvited thoughts faded, and the tight feeling in his pants that had followed, as well.

He was interrupted by the chubby waitress serving the meals; a plate of fried rice and vegetables with damped fish for Sakura, and a bowl of dark miso soup with chicken and mushrooms for him. He would have to eat fast to finish before Sakura came out from her hideout. He had originally planned to reveal his face; she would see it sooner or later anyway, he supposed. But now that he had a chance to keep his face hidden, he would not waste the chance.

Turning away from the other customers, he slid down his mask and started eating, gulping down the delicious soup in big mouthfuls. He knew it was rather uncharming to watch, but he did not care what other people thought about him. Having half of his face hidden behind a mask and a hitai-ate already gave away that he was no ordinary man.

He finished his meal in time. Having just re-adjusted his mask, the door to the women's toilet opened. Sakura came out with a rather relaxed expression. She did not make eye contact with him, however. She just smiled to the nearby guests and sat down, pretending like nothing. Those few minutes in the bathroom had really calmed her, it seemed.

Without a word, she started eating.

"Sakura, I am sorry. I said some things that I should not have said," came his voice stoically. It surprised her, however. She knew he had thought about it. Kakashi was no man to apologize unless he knew he had done something stupid.

Sakura, however, continued eating in silence. An apology was the least she could expect from him. He needed no thanks.

Kakashi's eye narrowed barely visibly. Sakura was behaving like a stubborn child right now. Here he was, apologizing to her even though she had done things worth an apology as well. And she just ignored him.

The older jounin felt a jag of disappointment. If this was how she wanted it to be, then fine with him. He could be cold as well. Very cold.

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_Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter._

_Love,_

_Louise/MangaAnimeLover_


	5. Dodge and Ambush

_Oh, you're lucky! Another chapter/update today! I had lots of fun writing this one, especially because it contains several things I like to write about: fighting and sex (not saying that they are having sex in this chapter, though!) :P_

_This chapter therefore contains adult scenes. (Well, I wouldn't want to see those fight scenes in a movie, I'll tell ya! They are a bit... gorey...). _

_**Only read on if you are 15 or older!** (or mature of your age)._

_**Teaser:** The tension between Sakura and Kakashi gets worse, and for Kakashi it develops into sexual tension. Well, Sakura certainly does not help with his problem (rather the opposite)! Oh, and it seems that they are not alone~_

_Have fun reading! :D_

**-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-**

**Chapter 4: Dodge and Ambush**

It was amazing how utterly bored the man could look, Sakura thought to herself.

They had reached quite far into Earth Country where they had travelled through never-ending landscapes of rocks and dirt. When they had found something that resembled an acceptable place to rest, they had stopped and made a small camp. It was nothing more than a weakly warming campfire between them, encircled in rocks to keep the fire under control during the night, and their sleeping bags.

Before her was a bag of fruit and bread, but Sakura was not really hungry despite the fatigue. The atmosphere between them had been strange ever since they had left the restaurant earlier that day. She really had nothing to say, and Kakashi, who usually only spoke when necessary, had seemed to stay silent intentionally. It was uncomfortable.

Kakashi was not eating either. She supposed that he did not want to eat with her around. He would have to remove or lift his mask, and she would see what he was hiding from everyone. At the restaurant he had been lucky. He had eaten in peace while she was sulking in the toilet.

Sakura stopped in her thoughts. Maybe it had all been his plan, to make her go for an instant so that he could eat in peace. Was it possible? She thought it over. No, there were other ways for him to slide off his mask without being noticed. Surely he would not start a fight just to be able to eat alone. He was not selfish enough to harm her for such a silly reason.

Sakura sighed. A slight hope had formed in her chest at the possibility of him not being a bastard anyway, but she now realized that it was a hope only. She still did not know why he had said those things. Leaning back on her sleeping bag, Sakura closed her eyes, a disappointed look on her face.

_But he did apologize_, her inner self reminded her. _He never apologizes unless he really means it._

The kunoichi knew it was right. She, too, had not been entirely fair toward him. It just seemed too late to apologize to him. It would be awkward. Maybe, if she started talking to him, she could break the ice. Before she managed to speak, Kakashi spoke instead.

"I will take the first three hours of lookout. Sleep. I will wake you." She was surprised to hear his voice, although only shortly. She needed the sleep, they both knew. She would have to wait until morning.

"Goodnight," Sakura said, slipping into her sleeping bag with a smile. Kakashi merely turned around and leapt into a nearby tree, leaving Sakura with a frown.

_Bastard_, her mind hissed, and the disappointed kunoichi fell asleep.

**-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-**

Kakashi sighed airily. He was barely half done with his shift, and he was close to falling asleep right on the tree branch he was resting on. Although Earth Country was a rather unfriendly country, it seemed that none of the passing nomads or animals dared attacking the sleeping kunoichi by the slowly dying bonfire. He had yet to see any shinobi, however. Maybe something was going on somewhere. Last time he had been in Earth Country, enemy shinobi had been everywhere.

Jumping down from the branch, Kakashi neared the sleeping cherry-haired girl. Her eyelids moved, her breath erratic. She was dreaming. He wondered about what. He sat down on his sleeping bag, watching the white hot coal between them.

Why had it become like this? They used to be good friends without fighting, without the awkwardness between them. Now, they seemed like strangers. And it had all happened in one day.

_Maybe she is premenstrual_, he thought, an amused smile creeping onto his lips. He knew it was not the case. Most of the fault was his, it seemed. He could have stopped it anytime, but he had not. As if something inside of him wanted a conflict. Like he wanted distance between them. But why? Was he afraid of getting closer to her personally? He mused over it. What could possibly happen if they bonded even more?

The traitorous scenes flashed through his mind once again. Her sweet, soft skin sliding over his. Her jade eyes locked with his, clouded with lust. Her lips dancing seductively on his, tongues sliding against each other. A soft mewl of pleasure in his ear. Longing, lustful, demanding.

Oh God, he had to stop himself.

_You disgusting, old pig! She is just a girl! _his mind scolded, his eyes pressing shut. _No more Icha Icha Paradise until you can control yourself._

He knew he could not stop. He was starving for sex, for the touch of a woman. He should have taken the waitress. Or the blonde gatekeeper, for that matter. She could do as well. But he had to stay away from Sakura at all costs. Perhaps this was why he had brought on the bad atmosphere between them. To protect himself from her. And more importantly, to protect _her_ from _him_. He was a heart-breaker. He could not maintain a relationship, especially not with Sakura. She should not end up as his every short-time lover. He would not allow that.

There was just one problem. The tightness in his pants did not seem to ease. He would have to do something about it.

He stood up and moved away from their small encampment, although not farther than he could still watch Sakura. He let one hand dug into his pocket to grab Icha Icha Paradise, while the other slipped into his pants.

**-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-**

"_Is it really okay with you?" she asked, her fingers caressing his masked jaw. She could feel his stubbled skin through the thin fabric._

"_How else would I be able to kiss you?" he replied, a smile visible. _

_Her heart was pounding. Closing her eyes, she slid down his mask, slowly. She could feel his breath even more now. Maybe he was moving closer. He was. His lips, silky but masculine, caught hers in a feverish kiss. She was pushed backwards, her eyes opening in surprise when her back collided softly with the wall. _

_Both of his eyes were the colour of onyx, deep and demanding. His hands slid down her thighs, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing herself closer to the erection nearly ripping the seams of his pants. He could not restrain a moan._

"_I want you, Sakura," he mumbled against her lips. "I want you. Now."_

_Suddenly, they were lying on the couch, naked, sweaty. He moved against her, their hips rolling together rhythmically. Her head rolled back into the cushion, his lips instantly on her throat, kissing, sucking, biting._

"_Kaka-" she moaned, unable to gather her thoughts._

"_Sakura," he whispered in return._

_She let her nails dig into the sofa, clawing. She was shaking in ecstasy. Breathing fast._

"_Sakura."_

"_Kakashi."_

"_SAKURA!"_

With a gasp, Sakura awoke, sitting up in one swift move. Eyes wide, breath bated. Heart pounding and mind still focusing on her dream.

Kakashi sat in the tree, crouching, with a kunai in each hand. He gestured for her to be silent and find weapons as well.

"What is it?" she asked meekly, looking around. She could only see very little. It was still night.

"I think we are being watched," he whispered. Sakura knew it was serious and that an enemy could be lurking behind every rock, but she could not focus. She was still stunned by her dream, and spent more time thinking what the hell she had been doing, instead of listening.

Silently, she slipped on her gloves and fastened her weapon pouch, standing up.

_I cannot see anybody,_ she thought, now more focused but still far too unfocused.

That was, until she was pressed against the ground in one quick move, her face forced down into the dirt. Kakashi barely had time to react before he too was caught, a cluster of wires wrapped around his neck, forcing him to ground.

Five foreign shinobi revealed themselves by dispelling the genjutsu which Kakashi had been too "busy" to notice.

Sakura, still with her face to the ground, quickly drew a precise amount of chakra into her body, letting the ground beneath her crumble away so that she disappeared into a hole. The two ninja holding her down cursed. One jumped into the hole as well.

Kakashi had been smart enough to make a replacement of himself before the attack, and the clone caught by wire was beheaded with a pull of the strings, and turned back into a rock. His three captors started searching for the real Kakashi instantly, leaping in each direction.

Sakura, still being chased by one, created a tunnel up. She was undoubtedly stronger _on_ the ground instead of under it. She came out faster than the Tsuchi-nin behind her, so she forced her fist against the ground, creating a crater beneath her and crushing the enemy underground. His scream of pain was muffled by the dirt.

Kakashi spun around, sending one kunai after each of his three pursuers. One was too busy making hand seals that he did not dodge in time. The knife dug into his skull. He fell to the ground, lifeless.

The taller ninja threw wires after the still running Kakashi, one string sliding along his upper arm and ripping open his shirt. The other opponent forced chunks of dirt and stone to rise into the air, throwing them after the silver-haired jounin with his mind.

Sakura had forgotten her second opponent and received a kunai stab into her back. Growling in pain, she turned around and hit the foreign kunoichi with all her strength. The woman was sent flying against a large rock, her back cracking as she collided with it. Sakura took the time to yank out the kunai from her back, and said weapon was thrown after the Tsuchi-nin, who dodged.

Kakashi revealed his Sharingan and turned around, locking eyes with the ninja controlling the wires. The instant the ninja noticed the Sharingan, he was under its spell, caught in the Tsukuyomi. He fell to the ground, paralyzed. Kakashi threw a series of kunai after the paralyzed man, but his teammate moved chunks of dirt in front of him, blocking out the knives.

Sakura dodged another three poisoned senbon, leaping backwards and skidding to a halt. Molding chakra to her soles, she ran up along the nearest tree, somersaulting in mid-air and landing behind the enemy, sending series of kicks into her back, which once again cracked. The woman cried out in pain, and Sakura knew that her spine was about to break. So she drew a tiny amount of chakra into her fist and shattered the woman's damaged spine. Said woman fell to the ground, unable to move. Now, it was a question of moral. The enemy was rendered harmless, could still be saved by a skilled medic, but would never be able to move properly again. Was there any need to kill her? It was a question Sakura had thought a lot about during her time as a ninja. And she had come to a conclusion; better safe than sorry. Then she stamped her chakra-filled foot down onto the woman's skull, crushing it and killing her instantly.

Kakashi was getting impatient. He made four shadow clones, who all darted toward the remaining opponent, dodging his waves of stone chunks. He fought them off one by one, not even realizing that the real jounin was right behind him. Just as the fourth clone poofed away, Kakashi slit the man's throat with a kunai. Blood splattered onto the ground and onto Kakashi's shirt. The man fell to the ground, staining it crimson.

Sakura and Kakashi met by the last opponent that remained alive. He was shivering, suffering under the horrible Uchiha genjutsu.

"Shall I kill him?" Kakashi wondered out loud.

"Yes," said the cherry-haired kunoichi by his side. "Otherwise he will recover and seek us out again, and next time he will bring more than just four friends." Better safe than sorry.

The bloody kunai slit along the skin of his throat, ending his life as well.

Sakura sighed. She hated these ambushes, but she knew to expect them every time they left Konoha. It was a never-ending war between ninja alike, and whether they wanted it or not, they were a part of it.

"So," Sakura began, turning to the man by her side, "How come you did not notice the instant the genjutsu was cast? For shinobi of this caliber to perform it, it must have had all your senses tingling." She was bringing back the unfriendly atmosphere between them, she knew. But she also wanted to know why Kakashi had sensed nothing. It was very unlike him.

Kakashi knew that the only time he had been unfocused was when he had been... _fixing his problem_. He could not tell her that! Neither could he tell her that he had nearly fallen asleep, too.

"I was on the toilet," he said monotonously. She would buy that. Or at least not blame him. But Sakura snorted.

"I hope it was your best crap ever, because it could have cost us our lives," she then replied coldly and went back to their belongings, which were scattered all around the area.

Sakura took her time to gather all her belongings, once again thinking about her dream. It made no sense at all. She had never experienced anything alike it, and especially not with her former sensei as her lover. He was handsome, yes, she would admit that so far. But having wet dreams about them being together... It was all going out of hand. Everything between them was weird, and it made no sense that she would have fantasies about them _now_, of all times.

"I think we should move on now, or at least find another place to sleep. I hate the stench of dead bodies decomposing around me," Sakura said when Kakashi returned. "I do not need to sleep right now, anyway."

She seemed annoyed, he noticed. But who could blame her? It was his entire fault that they were ambushed anyway. If he had been able to control his lust, they might never have been attacked in the first place.

"Yes, let us continue. There is still almost a day's travel before us," answered the silver-haired jounin, collecting his own belongings as well.

**-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-**

Sakura's mood lightened up during the day. Once the sun arose from the horizon, she did not feel so cold anymore. It was getting warmer and warmer, and around midday Sakura could hardly bear it anymore.

"Can we stop? I seriously need a shower," Sakura said, breaking the silence. She needed to clean her wound as well. The water from her canteen was not enough to rinse the bleeding wound, and she could not reach the spot where the wound was. Kakashi knew nothing of healing jutsu, so she had to do it herself.

Kakashi, too, needed a shower. His shirt was still stained with enemy blood, and the cut on his upper arm, although neither deep nor long, needed to be cleaned as well. He had not asked Sakura for help. Instead, he had wrapped his arm beneath the shirt so it was almost invisible to notice the cut unless you knew he had it.

"Let us find a nearby lake, or perhaps an inn if we are lucky," Kakashi answered monotonously, his one visible eye looking just as bored as always.

_I hope it will be an inn_, Sakura's mind added, savouring the thought of a bit of privacy.

Kakashi preferred an inn as well. Not that he was particularly shy over his body, but he would have to remove his mask in front of Sakura. Yet the worst part was that he would have to sit there, knowing that Sakura was naked near him, even though he would have his back turned to her. He would be haunted by his traitorous thoughts once again. And he did not know how to rid himself of such erection in the presence of the kunoichi, unless said kunoichi was part of the process.

Oh, he was doing it on purpose. Thinking about her in ways that he should not. But no matter what he was thinking that concerned Sakura, it led to the fact that he wanted her. That was the truth, right? Or did he just lust for _someone_, no matter who? He did not really know anymore. The only thing he knew was that if it really was Sakura he lusted for, he would not give in to his lust. And clearly, _she_ had no interest in _him_ whatsoever.

It was not long before they actually passed a small lake hidden in something that resembled a circle of rocks. The lake seemed clear, but not too deep. Sakura and Kakashi looked at each other, neither of them willing to admit that they would rather wait for the next inn.

"Who goes first?" Kakashi asked, his heart already starting to beat faster by the thought of what was to come. Sakura was thinking practically.

"I have a wound to attend to. If I go first, I can rinse it and try and heal it when you bathe afterwards. This will be the fastest way to do it," she spoke, seemingly unaffected by the whole situation.

Right. She would have something to distract herself with. But he would not.

Kakashi nodded.

"Fine. You go. I will just sit here and wait," replied the man and was grateful of his mask that covered the slight blush he could feel tingle on his skin.

Sakura climbed in between the wall of rocks, looking back twice to see if the pervert behind her was peeking. He was not; he was sitting on the ground with his back turned to her and Icha Icha Paradise in his hand.

Sakura sighed with a smile. Kakashi still seemed to treasure the Icha Icha-series.

_He really must be a lonely man_, she thought, a flash of compassion in her chest.

Soon undressed, Sakura quickly slipped into the clear water which was surprisingly cold compared to the weather. She almost gave a shriek of surprise, but contained it just accurately. Nevertheless, it did not slip past Kakashi's senses, and said man was very close to turning around in pure reflex.

Focusing on _not_ focusing on Sakura, Kakashi forced himself to read the page. His eyes glided down the lines of letters in a steady pace, but the words were never really intercepted into his mind.

His mind was full of images, however. One certain mental image caught him. It was so easy to imagine him naked in the lake with Sakura. Her naked frame pressed against his, his nose burrowed in her cherry locks, her soft peach skin, wet and glinting. Oh, how he could just let his hands rest on her hips, slowly letting them glide down to her inner thighs. She would be warm and wet, but not from the water. He would let two fingers glide into her, and she would moan, rolling her head back onto his shoulder where he would kiss her neck until her entire body was covered in goosebumps and she would shiver in anticipation.

Kakashi frowned. He did not even need to look down to notice the goddamn column between his legs. He closed his eyes and wondered. Wondered that if he went down into the lake now, would she protest? Would she accept his touch, his kisses? Was it worth a try?

Without noticing it, he had started stripping himself. His hitai-ate was removed, his outer shirt unzipped and his mask about to be slid down.

"I am done now," called the kunoichi from behind him, ripping him out of his trance. He cast a look back over his shoulder only to see Sakura nearly fully dressed. He almost frowned.

"I thought you might help me a bit first, however," Sakura continued and sat down in front of the man, her back turned to him. He was taken aback. They had not been this physically close since... Since the mission back when she was just a chuunin.

Sakura tugged at her shirt, revealing a large part of her naked back. Soft, peach skin...

"Since I cannot see it for myself, I need you to tell me whether or not my wound is clean."

Kakashi leaned forward, eyes fixed on the deep stab wound beneath her right shoulder blade. She was surprised to feel his warm fingers on her skin around the wound, stretching lightly. It ached, and Sakura gritted her teeth.

Her skin, so soft and perfect. His feather-light touches caused goosebumps on her, and Kakashi remembered his fantasy. She was close enough for him to kiss her neck, even her throat. She was close enough for him to let his hands glide down into her pants and underwear. Heck, he could just reach out and he would have her fine silky smooth breasts in his palms.

Kakashi was a man of self-control, but never had his self-control been this close to fail.

"It seems clean to me," he then said, breathing deeply, restraining himself. Sakura stood up but was so close to the man that it happened in a clumsy way, her ass almost touching his masked face in the process.

Her ass. He had forgotten her softly shaped ass, tight and fine and just the way he liked them. Kakashi praised himself lucky that his book had landed on his lap so that she would not accidentally notice the bulge growing.

However, she did notice the blush on his face. Frowning, she dusted herself off.

"Pervert," she said and sat down on her sleeping bag, starting to heal herself the best she could while said pervert sneaked off into the lake.

He had planned to take care of his erection underwater, hopefully drowning the noises. But the water was so cold that once he was in, action was no longer needed. Kakashi did not know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

**-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-**

_Ooohh, I just love this chapter! And I hope you enjoyed it as well._

_Love,_

_Louise/MangaAnimeLover_


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